Page 17 - Equipment Echoes Issue #137

Sauerman Slackline Cableway Excavators

Precision in dumping wasn’t always required when loading a car. Spoil fell against this
sloped dump board, allowing for faster operation. (Sauerman Bros. catalog, Shearar &
Mayer Dragline Cable Excavators, n. d., HCEA Archives)

But again, one operator ran everything, and help was needed only
for steam power, which required a fireman.
Power requirements varied with capacity. A one-yard machine
needed 200 pounds of coal, 30 kilowatts of electricity, eight gallons
of gas or six gallons of diesel fuel per hour.

Output
A slackline excavator’s output was usually not a constant due
to variances in length of haul and consistency of digging. But
Sauerman did note three rules of thumb that applied to estimating
production:
• A Sauerman bucket usually loaded in one to three times its length; Along with dumping to the ground, slackline draglines were used to charge aggregate and
batch plants, car loaders and other structures.
• The bucket tended to gather more than its rated capacity and
carry it with minimal spillage; and,
• Cycle time was 40 to 120 seconds, depending on length of
haul, digging conditions and operator skill.
Component design
Sauerman designed a range of buckets suitable for various
materials. All were designed for fast loading through great
penetrating power, maximum efficiency in loading to or beyond
capacity, load retention, and quick and complete emptying. The
bucket operated in the same fashion as a conventional dragline
bucket, and the buckets had slightly trapezoidal floors, a few inches
wider in front than at back. Depending on the need, the bucket
could be dumped either instantly or slowly under positive control.
The carriers were designed to properly transport the bucket
without undue wear to the track cable. The carrier traveled on
two, three or four sheaves depending on bucket size, with the load This plant is being served by a tandem installation. One excavator draws material to a point
where the other, adjacent to — likely even mounted on — the plant can gather it.
equally distributed across the sheaves in all cases. (Sauerman Bros. catalog, Shearar & Mayer Dragline Cable Excavators, n. d., HCEA Archives)
The use of chains between the bucket, carrier and load line
made the bucket virtually independent of the carrier and track line

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